Zoho DeskShopify InboxZoho Desk vs Shopify Inbox

Zoho Desk vs Shopify Inbox: $70 or $0 for five people

A help desk against a free chat for Shopify stores: Shopify Inbox is $70 a month cheaper for five people. What decides between Zoho Desk and Shopify Inbox, and a third option for small teams.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Zoho Desk if you already run Zoho CRM or Books and want support in the same suite. Pick Shopify Inbox if you run a Shopify store and want free chat with the cart in view. For five people, Shopify Inbox is $70 a month cheaper than Zoho Desk ($70 a month on Zoho Desk against $0 on Shopify Inbox), before AI. Sellio Mini is $45, which only Shopify Inbox's figure comes under. Zoho Desk and Shopify Inbox share no channel in the base price; only Zoho Desk has email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram; only Shopify Inbox has website chat. Between them Zoho Desk and Shopify Inbox cover every channel Sellio ships. A team of two to ten choosing between Zoho Desk and Shopify Inbox for chat and tickets at one price has a third option below.

At a glanceZoho DeskZoho DeskShopify InboxShopify Inbox
Built aroundEmail tickets · part of the Zoho suiteThe storefront chat · free with a Shopify plan
Entry plan$7/user/mo · Express, yearly$0 · with any Shopify plan
Chat in the price$40/user/mo · Enterprise, with SalesIQ$0 · storefront and Shop app
AI agentIn the plan · Zia on Professional and upIncluded · AI chat from the catalog and policies
Copilot for agentsZia · Professional and upIncluded · suggested replies
Free planYes · 3 agents, email ticketsYes · the app is free

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    As a ticket from email, a form or a messaging app, in a queue with blueprints for the process. Shopify Inbox has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    As a chat on the storefront or in the Shop app, with the cart and orders beside it. Zoho Desk raises a ticket where Shopify Inbox keeps a conversation.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    $7 buys email tickets on Express; WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram start on Standard at $14; live chat needs Enterprise. $70 for five people, against $0 on Shopify Inbox.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    There is no seat price; staff are limited by the Shopify plan's staff accounts. $0 for five people, against $70 on Zoho Desk.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    Zia's answer bot and generative AI are included by plan, with a token allowance, rather than metered per conversation. Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan as well.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    The AI chat learns the catalog and policies and is included; there is nothing to meter. Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    Email and social on every plan; WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and Messenger from Standard; chat on Enterprise. email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram are here and not on Shopify Inbox.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Storefront chat and the Shop app; no email, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram in the inbox. website chat is here and not on Zoho Desk.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    The Zoho suite: CRM, SalesIQ, Projects and Books share the account. Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores instead.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Product recommendations, discount codes and order updates inside the chat. Zoho Desk is a help desk instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk

    A day: connect the mailbox, set departments and a blueprint. Shopify Inbox is minutes.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Minutes: install the app from the Shopify admin. Zoho Desk is a day.

Sources: Zoho Desk pricing · Shopify Inbox pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Zoho Desk ticket view: the queue, the ticket with Zia's suggestions and the contact
Zoho DeskZoho Desk. The Zoho Desk ticket view: the queue, the ticket with Zia's suggestions and the contact
The Shopify Inbox conversation: the chat with the customer's cart and orders on the side
Shopify InboxShopify Inbox. The Shopify Inbox conversation: the chat with the customer's cart and orders on the side

Pricing references: Zoho Desk pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13; needs verification); Shopify Inbox pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Zoho Desk, Shopify Inbox and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureZoho DeskZoho DeskShopify InboxShopify InboxSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per user; AI in the plan
Free with Shopify
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
3 agents
The whole app
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
Enterprise, via SalesIQ
Storefront and Shop app
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
All plans
Not offered
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Standard and up
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Standard and up
No longer connected
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Standard and up
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack and Teams integrations
Not offered
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Zia answer bot
Learns the catalog
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
In the plan, token allowance
Included
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Creates a ticket
Hands to staff
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Ticket-first with blueprints
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Workflows and blueprints
Instant answers, greetings
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Reports and dashboards
Assisted orders
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile
Admin and mobile
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Zoho Desk if

  • You already run Zoho CRM or Books and want support in the same suite.
  • Email tickets with WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram at a low seat price.
  • You need email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram in the price, which Shopify Inbox does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Shopify Inbox does not have.

Pick Shopify Inbox if

  • You run a Shopify store and want free chat with the cart in view.
  • One channel is enough and you do not need tickets.
  • Five people cost $70 a month less than on Zoho Desk ($0 against $70), before AI.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Zoho Desk does not include outright.

The third option: Sellio

  • Two to ten of you answer chat, messaging and email. Compare Sellio's workspace plans with $70 a month on Zoho Desk against $0 on Shopify Inbox for five people, including each product's limits.
  • The AI invoice should be known in advance: Zoho Desk folds AI (in the plan) into the plan and Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan, where Sellio's credit is included and capped by you.
  • You need native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Zoho Desk nor Shopify Inbox includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Zoho Desk on Standard: $28, $70 and $140 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Shopify Inbox: $0 a month for five (free; five staff need the Shopify plan that allows them); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $25 less than Zoho Desk and more than Shopify Inbox's $0 for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $45 under Zoho Desk.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Zoho Desk is a help desk built around email tickets; Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores built around the storefront chat. Both have a free plan: Zoho Desk's is 3 agents, email tickets, Shopify Inbox's is the app is free. Zoho Desk and Shopify Inbox share no channel in the base price; only Zoho Desk has email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram; only Shopify Inbox has website chat. Between them Zoho Desk and Shopify Inbox cover every channel Sellio ships. Zoho Desk (in the plan) and Shopify Inbox (included) both fold AI into the plan. Zoho Desk has tickets and Shopify Inbox does not, and neither Zoho Desk nor Shopify Inbox ships a desktop app. Zoho Desk is a day; Shopify Inbox is minutes.

What each price leaves out

Zoho Desk: Zia answer bot from Standard; generative AI on Professional and up with a token allowance. Shopify Inbox: AI chat and suggested replies included. Beside Zoho Desk's in the plan and Shopify Inbox's included, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How these figures were read

Zoho Desk does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (Per user per month, billed yearly; monthly costs more. The page could only be read in a local currency, so the dollar figures are Zoho's US list prices from published summaries.), so they are marked unverified here beside Shopify Inbox's, and Zoho Desk's pricing page should be checked before you decide.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    Zoho DeskZoho DeskAssumed $0$0
    Shopify InboxShopify InboxSee vendorNot quoted
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    Zoho DeskZoho Desk · 15-day trial, no card
    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox · Not applicable; free
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Zoho Desk vs Shopify Inbox: the questions people ask

Zoho Desk is a help desk built around email tickets; Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores built around the storefront chat. Zoho Desk has tickets and Shopify Inbox does not, and neither Zoho Desk nor Shopify Inbox ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Zoho Desk $7/user/mo (Express, yearly); Shopify Inbox $0 (with any Shopify plan).
  • Chat in the price: Zoho Desk $40/user/mo (Enterprise, with SalesIQ); Shopify Inbox $0 (storefront and Shop app).
  • Sellio's inbox: all five channels on every paid plan, where Zoho Desk and Shopify Inbox each include only some.

The shared inbox page puts Sellio beside Zoho Desk and Shopify Inbox on the same rows.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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